Bag closure



Patented Feb. 215, 1927.

iin-iran sisi-ss JAY :TAMAssmor ii-:aw reali-K, er.

BAG `oLosiiJaii.

Application filed April `29, 1926. Serial No. 105,405.

'This invention relates 'to bags and'fastening means therefor, and more particularly refers. to a simple and inexpensive Way of sealing lbags such as are used for holding a small quantity of te'a leaves or other substances adapted to .make an infusion.

The primary object of this invention is -to ,provide 4a novel and improved means `for closing the mouthof .a bag, said means being inexpensive, simple in design and extremely eiiicient.

Another object is to provide a novel `type of yseal .for .closing the mouth of a bag, .so 'formed that tampering withl the seal will be .easily detected.

A. further object :is to provide a bag seal of a 4novel .and improved design, Which is adapted .toibe set and formed in position by .automatic machinery or by some specially designed tool.; so that -the lcost of the seal itself .as AWell as the .cost of applying 4it to `tlieineck of a bagis negligible although ,the result obtained .is positive .and effective.

Other objects andadvantages of the piesv ent invention Wlill .more'fully appear as the ldescription proceeds .and Will vlbe set forth and claimed in .the :appended claims.

The ordinary .method `of closing 4a bag .after filling .it is, of course, .t0 gather 'its folds .at Ithe .mouth forming them intoV ak neck `and .tying :a string around it. `This method .is both slow and expensive, and is Ahardly satisfactory Where .quantity produc- .tion methods are needed.

Certain .types of `bagssuch .as those `small bags such as aroused for .holding a, .small` quantity .of tea leaves, adapted to be im- --mersed inhotfwater .in `orderfto produce a certaiiixquantity offtea infusion, are .pro-

, duced in vlarge .quantities and .must neces saril-y be .of an inexpensive character.; ,at Athe saine .time vthis Vtype .of .product requires, a .positive as .Well as :inexpensive .method kof sealing the bags in order to protect thecon-A tents thereof.

. A .number offsealsof various designs have been proposed and -used for this purpose,

but YWhile the sealing .action provided .by

these .devices is `fairly satisfactory, I'have,A

found that generally Ithese seals ,may `:be -easilyremoved and @replaced in position; I

. .have also-found that some -of these .seals in time 'become loose, ltheirgrip .on the folds Aof .the bag -ibecomingless .positive and per-v initting the escape-of .part of :the -rconten'ts 0f `the "bag if the lbag should by chance be turned upside down.

Due to the -na-tureod1 the, products-which aiesoldfinthese containers, it is highlydesirable that the contents `Aof .tl'ie bags beheld safely and surely Within the 1`bag by a seal which isrnot liable to become loose lof its own accord. Y

.'It` Iis alsofdesirable Athat this seal 'be of.k such a nature as to vprevent any attempt to l tamper IWith the contents of the lbagder *the -regard to its effective action.

'1n the accompanying drawings, vI .illustrate a typical.embodiment.of invention,

and referring'to. said drawings-'- Fig'. 1 is a view lin perspective of :a YJfea cartridge embodying 'my invention;

Fig. 2` is a fragmentary view in elevation .of the neck portion `o'fthe bag usedin `Fig.

1, .showing a .different VViexible suspension means, in an enlarged scale; 'and Y Fig. 3v is .a plan sectional lView through "the neck of the bag in Fig. 2.

Referring 'to Fig. .1?, '1'0 designates .a bag of afsui'table fabric, 1.preferratbly openmesh, :adapted to containfa vprede'terininedgluantity of tea `-leavesoi coffee. l the bag is closed by lgathering, together:its edges ,into folds andvv ,then Vit fis maintained 1in this' position vby applying toits neck portion a metallic nsea-l Il which clampsand l.holds itogether the said folds.

A bag' olf this nature is usually also -provided with flexible suspension A,means@which .are .used to hold the'bag into a cup or .kettle 'of hot Water. (Ordinarily, ajstringl `is applied to 4the bag 'for this purpose merely Vby bag .and .the ring, embracing thefneclk of thefbagg the Iother vend o'f said stringfbeing ,provided with .a tag which may 'tbe 'used as .a lhaiidle g. however, the` string .attached kto .the'bag in `this manner is liable to and often.

.does easily slip` off, so that some inconveninf/'sas V The lmouth .of

i' In the lIvjroduction of bags ofthis character, VI prefecto secure the string to the bagin such amanner that slippage of the string cannot occur; for instance, in the deviceV shown in Fig. l, l2 designates a tag attached to the free end of a string or wire i3, the free end of which is inserted between the seal 111 and the bagy inthe usual manner Y however, the freeend of the string has been .itied-jintofa knot 14, which will effectively preventslippage of thestring, assuring the f p'ermanency of the connection.

vl-lowever, 'thisfmethod of attaching .the

string toa bag complicates manufacturing operations to a Vcertain-extent, and 1 have foundpreferable and` equally as effective to sew or to attach a string directlyto `the up-V per part ofthe bag as shown in Fig. 2, Where Y invention, a positive and permanent.closure Y portion embracing and retainingsaid folds of the bag is effected by first gathering the edge of the 'bagsf mouth into folds, pressing' A them together vto form a neck closing Vthe bag and thenby applying a seal to said neck together. y

s ,This object attained bylusing a single Ylength of metallic wire which is inserted .throughthe neck of the bag until the neck x bent around the neck in the same dir`ection is Vabout midway of the,` length of the wire; the. two projecting ends of the wire are then y so-that one of the ends embraces that part of the'folds which is at Vone side ofthe part of the. wire ,inserted through the neck, and they other end embraces that part of the Vfolds fio . 50 'arewoundabouttheneckto .form substan" which' Vis located at the .otherside `Thus when-the ldeviceis Y:inserted in positionv it i roughly resembles an 1S lin shapewith its curved parts preferably long 'enough' to freach or even to overlap the. ends of the Q transversal .intermediate portion.Y

Thus in Fig. 3, 'it will be observed that 15` ,designates the intermediate portion of the site -points 16,17', asiclose vvto, the surface of the neck as possible, audits -endpo'rtions ,tially semi-circular loops 118,; 19, encircling the-folds of said neck.

. The wire so used .should bestifl'. enough to resist any tendency ofthe folds to expand ,so aste hold'the bag securely closed; at the :sanie'tiinejit shouldlfpreferablyvb'ehard to"Vv Y unbendfwithout undergoing permanent deformation vor breakage, .so as :to make it iin- ,possible .tov remove the seal and then toy re- Y place it'after` tampering with the contents ofV the bag. The material should therefore pos-- VSessa certain degree. ofvbrittleness, making Y Y the material unfit tostand any` excessive amount of bendingv and unbending. When Y Y ljusted or adjustable to suit.

.originalfstraight wire inserted through thev necklof bag l0. Said l`rwire is bent at 'oppo Vof bend-ing'. This Vprevents the possibility of the strinetsli )nine outv of the'seal sidevwise,so that it insures a safehold of the bag by means. of the stri-ng at all times.

In the case ofv bags of (ordinary size this type of seal maybe placed in position by hand or by means Iof van ordinary pa-irof pliers, as Well as by machinery or by 'auto-Y matic productionmethods; but in the case of small bags' such as used to hold a small quantity of tea leaves or coffee, it is very difficult to place the seal in position Without Vthe laid of some specially designedinachine;

therefore, this makes it-all the more diiiicult for any one topopen therseal andY replace it. Y rLabor'costs are so important an ritem in the production of articles .of this kind, that the moment the sealing operation is made too long ortoo diflicultto beperformedby hand, tampering with or adulteration Vvof the vso contents of a bagaswell as'the production of imitation products subject to misrepresentation, automatically become :unproitable and these unfair practices are therefore dis-n couraged beforethey are attempted.` y

My improved device is also advantageous purelyon the ground of cost when compared to other devices heretofore employed for the samepurpose; because due to its design the device lends itself to Ybe 'applied automati? cally or.semi-automatically from va continuons length of wire which maybe inserted,v

cutv oflfbent and formed in one operation Y and in a very short time, the length of the Wire employed foreach device being ad? The wireis preferably of which may be valuable, tampering with the n j contents of the bag may be prevented in aA a roundsection which is generally more rigid than an equivalent flat section, so .that for the same result a saving of metalmay be eiiected by using ak A izo still more effective and certain manner by spot weldingY the veryend of veach of the Vbentportions-of the Wire to the surface of ,the other-at the point where it -meets it; in

the present case the meetingpoint coincid-J.V

VingA with the starting point vof the bends 16, 17. In this case Vit would become-necessary to actually break the wire 'before-itcould be removed at all, so that this system could be usedfor instance, for sealing bags of registered mail and other bags, the contents of which is valuable. It would not be advisable howeverl and it is not necessary to resort to this ext-ra precaution in the case of tea leaves or coffee bags used for infusion purpose.

The bent portions of the wire may be .somewhat shorter than a full semi-circle and still piovide an effective closure, but on the other hand they may also be longer than repiesented so that each may be made to fully encircle the neck of the bag one or more times.

rl'he wire or strip metal used may be made of any suitable metal or alloy, and the device itself maybe produced in any suitable manner, the device-per se, and a bag iii combination with the device forming the essence of the present invention independently of the methods which may be used in forming and applying the device to the bag.

rI`he invention may be varied in its minor details without departing from the inven` tive idea and accordingly the drawings are Y intended for illustrative purposes only, and not n a limiting sense. Therefore, I reserve myself the right to carry my invention into practice in any way or manner which may enter fairly into the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a bag seal consisting of a continuous length of relatively stiff wire, comprising a central portion inserted throughY the neck of the bag, and opposite extensions therefrom7 one extension being bent about one part of the neck of the bag and the other extension being and opposite extensions therefrom, one ex-V tension being bent about one part of the neck of the bag andthe other vextension bent about the other part of thel bag, and flexible suspension'means attached tothe bag. Y

55. An. infusion material container, coinprising an open mouthed bag made of flexible fabric, having its mouth closed by gath-y ering its folds .together to forni a neck, a'

seal therefor consisting of acontinu-ouspiece of wire inserted through said neck and having opposite end extensions, one extension passing around one part of saidneck, and

the other extension extending around the other part of said neck. said extensions being i'eversely bent around said neck.

Ll. An infusion material container, com nrising an open mouthed bag made ofV iexible fabric, having its mouth closed by gathering its folds together to form a neck, a

seal therefor consisting of a continuous piece of wire inserted through said neck and havj ing opposite end extensions bent reversei ly abo-ut said neck whereby one extension is bent around one other extension is ent around the other part of the neck to securely clamp the same, and flexible suspension means clamped between one of said extensions and the neck of the bag.

JAY TAMAssY.

part of the neck and the i 

